Labor Issues Shouldn’t Hurt the Colts as Bad as Other Teams

Mike Chappell of the Indy Star as a good piece out today about the Colts in terms of the lockout and how it wouldn’t hurt the Colts as bad as some of the other teams around the league.

“What you have to do is (go) back to the basics, which is what Bill Polian’s great at: ‘Who fits our scheme and we’re going to go get him,’ ” Mayock said.

The labor uncertainty, he added, shouldn’t change the proper approach.

“The good teams always have been draft-first teams,” he said.

Since 2002, Polian has signed only five noteworthy veteran free agents during the March rush: place-kicker Adam Vinatieri in 2006, wide receiver Brandon Stokley and defensive tackle Montae Reagor in ’03 and cornerback Walt Harris and wide receiver Qadry Ismail in ’02. The cost in signing bonuses: $11.05 million. That doesn’t include free-agent defensive tackle Corey Simon, who signed prior to the start of the ’05 season.

Instead, the Colts have focused on the draft and re-signing their own players. Since ’02, owner Jim Irsay has retained 21 “home-grown” players — 15 of them draft picks — at a cost of more than $261 million in guarantees.